Green tea: potential health benefits.

Green tea: potential health benefits.

Schneider C, Segre T.

Department of Family Medicine, Maine Medical Center, Portland, Maine 04102, USA.

Green tea has been used widely and in high doses for centuries as a health tonic in many societies. Evidence suggests that green tea is effective for treating genital warts. There is some supportive evidence for the use of green tea in cancer prevention. Drinking green tea is associated with a decrease in all-cause mortality, but not in cancer-related mortality. Small clinical studies have found that green tea may also be helpful in losing and managing weight, and lowering cholesterol. Epidemiologic evidence suggests that green tea may prevent stroke and cardiovascular disease. Green tea appears to be safe, although there have been case reports of hepatotoxicity possibly related to a specific extract in pill or beverage form. Green tea seems to be a low-risk complementary therapy for a number of conditions, but more studies are needed.